Is Jarryd Hayne a team player?

Sport: The week's best plays

From watermelon lovers to monster sixes, these are the most exciting, silly and downright crazy plays in the sporting world this week.

Far from being satisfied with his incredible ascension in 2015, Day is driven like never before to become one of the sport's greats – aspiring to climb the mountain to world No.1 again but, this time, stay there for good.

That climb will begin at the first marquee event of the new PGA Tour season, the $8.1 million Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, where he will challenge Jordan Spieth for the No.1 world ranking.

"I am excited and nervous at the same time, because coming off such a great year last year, there is a lot of expectation that I have put on myself to play better this year": Jason Day. Photo: Getty Images

Should he topple the American phenomenon, the challenge does not end there for Day, given his overall ambition is to this year start to create an enduring reign such as that of Woods or another of his idols, Australian icon Greg Norman.

Woods was on top of the rankings for 683 weeks, while "The Shark" holds the record for Australian players, having spent 331 weeks in the slot.

Advertisement

Day achieved his lifelong dream late last year by reaching the pinnacle of the sport – becoming the youngest Australian ever to establish himself as No.1 – but only managed to stay there for four weeks before being dethroned by Spieth.

You will now receive updates fromSport Newsletter

Sport Newsletter

"I would love to become a dominant No.1 player in the world," Day told AAP in the US this week.

"That's the ultimate goal to stay No.1 for a long stretch like Tiger Woods did, like Greg Norman did," he said.

"I am excited and nervous at the same time, because coming off such a great year last year, there is a lot of expectation that I have put on myself to play better this year.

"The only way I can keep things moving that way is if I want it just as much, or more, and I keep working as hard or harder than I have before."

This week will be Day's first tournament since taking a three-month break for the birth of his daughter Lucy and to recharge the batteries from the extraordinary success of 2015 where he won five tournaments, including his first Major at the PGA Championship.

It was this event at Kapalua on Maui – which starts on Friday AEDT – that unofficially began the 28-year-old's rise in 2015.

While he did not win the title (American Patrick Reed did), Day's course-record equalling 11-under round of 62 on the final day (which left him tied third) was the first sign of the level of play he would produce over the next 12 months.

The small 32-player field – made up mostly of the winners of all the PGA Tour events from the previous year and the world's remaining highest-ranked available players – provides a unique opportunity for Day to go head-to-head with Spieth.

Such a confrontation this week would be the perfect way to open a year where the pair, plus world No.3 Rory McIlroy (not playing in Hawaii), are expected to resume the battle for supremacy among golf's "new world order".

"All of the talk of a Big Three, and how well those guys play, keeps me on my toes," Day said on the topic.

"I enjoy hearing about Rory and Jordan more than me because that keeps me hungry and keeps me going forward," he said.

"Of course, they more than deserve the accolades, and I am happy for them to get them. But the more people talk about them, the more I want to perform so they will also talk about me.

"It's great competition, and I enjoy the challenge of trying to be the guy who wins at the end of the week."

Day has spent the majority of his off-season working on fitness and strength, trying to add more symmetry and consistency to his swing with an eye on longevity of performance.

Having battled with injuries and illness in recent years – such as his on-course collapse at last year's US Open - Day said he was committed to reducing the risks, continuing his vertigo medication and even having his troublesome wisdom teeth removed.

Steven Bowditch is the only other Australian in the Tournament of Champions field, courtesy of his victory at last year's Byron Nelson event in May.